Given that the NFL’s 2017 season was marked by protest, it’s only appropriate that the opening night for Super Bowl LII should also feature, a protest.
While there weren’t any kneeling football players on Monday night, the Minneapolis chapter of Black Lives Matter provided plenty of protesters.
Several hundred members of Minneapolis BLM marched past the Xcel Energy Center, just before the Patriots began their media session, holding signs and chanting in protest.
“What we are trying to say is what we are doing out here is more important than what’s going on in there,” protest spokesman Abuja Archer told USA TODAY Sports. “We need the city and the state to value our lives more than this game.”
According to USA Today Sports, the protesters represented a wide variety of groups, ranging from those advocating for racial justice, to those demonstrating for teachers and worker’s rights.
USA Today Sports also reported that more protests were planned throughout Super Bowl week.